Adrenomedullin is a novel peptide first isolated from human pheochromocytoma1 and later proved to be secreted from the adrenal medulla, heart, vascular smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells.2 Adrenomedullin has not only vasoactive but also antimitogenic effects on the vascular tissue.3However, endothelin-1 has been widely known to be a potent atherogenic factor.4 We investigated adrenomedullin and endothelin-1 production in the coronary circulation of patients with coronary artery disease.

We studied 18 patients with coronary artery disease (12 men and six women, mean age 61.2 (10.0) years, range 36–83 years) and seven control subjects without coronary artery lesions (six men and one women, mean age 60.0 (10.5) years, range …